Thursday, August 29, 2013

With two MIAA titles and two appearances at Nationals in the past three years, the Calvin men’s golf program has put together its most successful stretch in program history. The Knights finished 26th nationally at the NCAA III Championships in the spring of 2011 and 30th this past spring. With the pair of national appearances, fifth-year head coach Brian Bolt thinks Calvin is ready to contend for the MIAA annually.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

With six returning letterwinners including one returning first team All-MIAA selection, the Calvin women’s golf team has hopes of once again finishing in the top four of the MIAA regular season fall standings and qualifying for the subsequent MIAA Spring Tournament that determines the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA III Championships. Calvin has qualified for the spring tournament the last two years by finishing fourth in both the 2011 and 2012 MIAA fall regular season standings. Leading the list of returning golfers is senior Carlia Canto (Marysville, Mich./Port Huron Northern HS) who was a 2012 first team All-MIAA choice and a 2011 second team All-MIAA selection. Last fall, Canto finished third in the final MIAA fall regular season standings with a Calvin single-season average of 81.3 strokes-per-round. She later placed in the top six at the final two rounds of the MIAA spring qualifying tournament. Canto was one of five underclassmen on the 2012 All-MIAA first team and should be part of a talented group of conference golfers this fall.

Monday, August 26, 2013

So what do a pair of top five nationally ranked conference rivals do to prepare for the upcoming season? In the case of the Calvin and Hope volleyball teams, it meant getting together for a preseason mixer based on the CBS “Amazing Race” television series. On a sunswept afternoon, this past Friday, the two rivals not only met up for a mixer but also joined together to form eight teams that competed in a scavenger hunt competition in downtown Holland. Each team was given a list of items to find at a variety of downtown Holland merchant stores. Teams were able to check off each completed leg of the race by checking in through Twitter, using hashtags referring to the competition, the merchant store and each schools volleyball twitter accounts.

Friday, August 23, 2013

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Women’s soccer coaches in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association have chosen defending champion Calvin as the preseason favorite for the 2013 season.The Knights, who won both the MIAA championship and conference tournament last season, received seven out of a possible nine first-place votes in the preseason poll. Alma, which was picked to finish second, and Saint Mary’s, which was picked fourth, each received one first-place vote. Hope was picked third in the poll, followed by Saint Mary’s, Adrian, Kalamazoo, Olivet, Trine and Albion.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Defending champion Calvin has been chosen the preseason favorite to win the 2013 MIAA men’s soccer championship.The Knights, who won the both the MIAA championship and the conference tournament last fall, edged out Hope in the preseason poll by one point, with both teams receiving three first-place votes. Kalamazoo, which was picked to finish third, received two first-place votes in the poll of the league’s coaches. Olivet, which advanced to the championship game of the MIAA tournament last fall, was picked fourth, followed by Adrian, Alma, Trine and Albion. Calvin will open its season on August 30 at 2011 national champion Ohio Wesleyan University. Calvin’s opening conference game is slated for September 17 at home vs rival Hope at 4:30 p.m. Calvin has won at least a share of the last six MIAA regular season titles.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Calvin College Men’s soccer team enters the 2013 season having established very high standards for success. The team has won six consecutive regular season MIAA titles and also made the NCAA tournament six years in a row. There proved to be no drop-off during the 2012 season under the direction of new head coach Ryan Souders, and the Knights look to build off this foundation this year. Out of the 24 players listed on the varsity roster last year, 16 return for the 2013 campaign, including an impressive 11 players who have started for the team before.

Friday, August 16, 2013

In 2012, the Calvin women’s soccer team was expected to struggle, namely due to a young roster, an unfamiliarity with the college ranks, and a 10-10-0 record in 2011. Chosen to finish fifth in the preseason MIAA rankings, the Knights showed early chemistry and were able to surprise the conference, earning the regular season and tournament MIAA championships en route to a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. In the tournament, Calvin again surprised its opponent, defeating nationally-ranked Aurora on a golden-goal in extra time in round one before bowing out in the second round to fifth-ranked Loras. Calvin finished the season 16-5-1, including 12-3-1 in conference. However, the Knights will be no surprise in 2013. Losing just two seniors to graduation, Calvin returns the majority of its roster while looking for leadership from an experienced class of new seniors.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The preseason 2013 Division III Top 25 poll conducted by the American Volleyball Coaches Association has been released and Calvin is ranked number-two in the poll. Defending national champion St. Thomas is the top-ranked team in the poll while Wittenberg is ranked third, Elmhurst is ranked fourth and Hope and Christopher Newport tied for fifth.Calvin is scheduled to face 14 teams this fall that are currently ranked in the AVCA preseason poll. Those teams include Wittenberg (#3), Elmhurst (#4), Hope (#5), Washington University of St. Louis (#7), Puget Sound (#9), Mount Union (#11), Chicago (#12), Otterbein (#14), Wartburg (#15) and Pacific Lutheran (#21). For a preseason outlook for the 2013 Calvin women’s volleyball team, visit the Calvin website at:http://www.calvin.edu/sports/news/comments/2013-calvin-womens-volleyball-preview/” title=“2013 Calvin Women’s Volleyball Outlook”>2013 Calvin Women’s Volleyball Outlook

Thursday, August 15, 2013

The MIAA continues to be the dominant Division III conference in America when it comes to men’s basketball attendance.The MIAA led all Division III conferences in the country in attendance for the 22nd consecutive year, averaging 923 fans a game for 88 home dates during the 2012-13 season. The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) finished a distant second with an average attendance of 772 fans per contest.MIAA members Hope and Calvin finished one-two in attendance for the season. Hope won the Division III team attendance title for the 11th year in a row with an average attendance of 2,748 fans per game at DeVos Fieldhouse. Calvin averaged 1,949 fans per game at Van Noord Arena, a 39 percent increase from a year ago, in moving up from fourth to second among Division III schools.